(29 November 2005 5:00 pm)

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW), the licensing division of FremantleMedia has inked a deal with leading games manufacturer, Britannia Games to create and produce board games and travel games based on two well-known gameshows - Family Fortunes and Play Your Cards Right.

For both Family Fortunes and Play Your Cards Right, FLW is targeting a family audience and gaming will continue to be the lead category, in particular TV plug and play, hand held and electronic games.

The Play Your Cards Right game will include oversized cards, more than four times the size of normal playing cards, and a special card stand to capture the look and feel of the show.

The Family Fortunes game will include a buzzer with light effects, which will also reflect the TV show experience. The games will be available in all major high street retailers from summer 2006 and will be showcased at the upcoming UK Toy Fair in January.

FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide vice president licensing UK Dom Wheeler said, "Gameshows are back in a big way and there is a marked interest in them worldwide. Britannia has done a great job in translating the TV show experience to these product lines and we are confident that these games will be extremely appealing to existing gameshow fans, as well as introduce the brands to a younger and broader audience. We're delighted to have such an established and well-known player as Britannia on board and look forward to working with them again in the future."

For Family Fortunes, FLW is also looking to extend the brand further through gadgets and gifting.Family Fortunes first aired in the US in 1976 and travelled to the UK in 1980, regularly outperforming its prime time slot. Widely regarded as one of the most perfectly constructed gameshows, the Family Fortunes format, Family Feud, has been newly commissioned in the Netherlands, Belgium and other European territories.

Play Your Cards Right first launched in the US in 1978 and local versions have been produced in 10 territories worldwide including Germany, Poland and the Philippines.

Family Fortunes and Play Your Cards Right are both part of FremantleMedia's extensive classic game show catalogue which also includes TV favourites The Price Is Right, Press Your Luck, Blockbusters, Match Game and Going For Gold. FLW represents all available ancillary rights to these shows worldwide including home entertainment, merchandising, licensing, interactive and publishing rights.

Earlier this year, FLW licensed rights to Imagination Games to produce an interactive DVD game based on Family Fortunes. The product, which captures all the excitement of the TV show, is distributed by Universal in the UK.